Mechanical and Solvent Extraction of Moringa Oleifera Seeds for Vegetable Oil

Moringa oleifera is a plant that is predicted to be a potential source of vegetable oil. Moringa seeds contain 35-40% oil which is used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, automotive and fuel industries. Moringa oil contains oleic, palmitic, and behenic acid which is good for health. Obtaining oil from Moringa seeds in this study used the mechanical pressing method and continued with extraction using a solvent. Mechanical extraction was carried out by pressing Moringa seeds with a moisture content of 8 and 16% w/w. The best result was obtained with a moisture content of 8% with the yield of oil produced from 20 to 31% w/w. The pressing temperature also varied at 80, 100, and 120°C and the best result was given by the temperature of 100°C with the yield of oil produced 27.3-28.8% w/w at 8% moisture content of seeds and 20.9-23.6% w/w at 16% moisture content of seeds. The pressed cake from the mechanical pressing was extracted by maceration method using n-hexane as the solvent. The ratio of the amount of solvent to the amount of pressed cake (mL/gram) was 6/1, 8/1, and 10/1. The best ratio given by 8/1 with the yield oil produced from 8.44-22.82% w/w. Moringa oil was characterized using the standard method. The oil density obtained 0.912-0.919 g/cm 3 , saponification value 195-202 mgKOH/g oil, acid value 1.62-2.77 mgKOH/g oil, and peroxide value 1.85-3.70 meqO 2 /kg.